The Gathering
by praxis3000
Summary: Naruto has gone missing and Kakashi is sure the mysterious visitors popping up must have something to do with it.
1. The Gathering

The Gathering

"Getsuga Tensho!"

Ichigo screamed as a cloud of dust parted giving way to a blue crescent. His opponent easily dodged the half-hearted attack with a quick step to the left sliding to a halt.

"_Why is he wearing that mask?" _

Ichigo asked himself as he tried to catch his breath wiping away a large trail of blood that had accumulated on his forehead.

"_It doesn't look like a hollow mask at all…so why…"_

Just moments before the attack hit him Ichigo noticed a stream of fire coming from his left.

"_When did he move?"_

Hoping to overpower his opponent with only his Shikai Ichigo dashed over and locked swords.

"Where's Naruto!?" The words reverberated.

Ichigo was surprised by the question. It was the first time his opponent spoke since he attacked him from behind, what's more it sounded as if he was wearing a hollow mask.

"Who the hell is Naruto? Who the hell are you for that matter?"

With their swords still locked, Ichigo's opponent yells, "Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!"

Being blown back by the attack Ichigo tumbles across the ground and grinds to a halt.

"_Damn Kiske, sending me here without any information_."

"Lighting Blade!"

With absolutely no time to dodge the attack, Ichigo is struck in the shoulder. The severe pain coupled with the shock of a surprise attack is just enough to knock him out.

As Ichigo slowly comes to he remembers the fight and winces at the dull pain in his shoulder. When he looks up he sees a silver haired man and realizes it was the same one he was fighting earlier but with out the mask. Ichigo panics and tries to get out of the bed but is stopped.

"Relax. Sakura took pretty good care of that wound in your shoulder but if you keep thrashing around like that you'll open it up again."

Ichigo calms down and lays his head back.

"So why am I here?"

"Well, I couldn't leave you out in the forest to die now could I?"

"Actually you could have," he says tugging on a chain he noticed attaching his arm to the bed.

"If I had then I wouldn't be able to get the information I wanted out of you. Like for starters: Where's Naruto?"

"I told you already, I have no idea who your talking about I just got here."

"From which village?"

"I'm not from a village, I'm Ichigo Kurosaki, substitute Soul Reaper from Karakura Town."

Just as Kakashi felt the conversation was getting somewhere another member of ANBU lands at the window sill of the hospital room.

"Hatake senpi, Lord Hokage needs to speak to you now."

Kakashi looks at Ichigo, "Don't go anywhere 'Soul Reaper.' I have more questions for you."

Kakashi stands before the Hokage eager to get back to his interrogation.

"Kakashi did you get any valuable information from the man you found?"

"No ma'am, but I was just about to go deeper into why he was here so if…"

"There's no time right now. I've received word that another one appeared nearby, and I need you to go and assess the situation. If you feel they have any information concerning Naruto's whereabouts detain them by any means necessary."

"Lord Hokage, I'm starting to feel the people showing up here may not be connected to Naruto's disappearance, or at the very least they aren't directly involved with it."

"Kakashi, if I recall you requested to rejoin the ANUB Black Ops for the sole purpose of finding and retrieving Naruto. As such I expect you to follow orders without question. These people might not be directly connected to the incident but they may share some other link. Now go, and while you're at it take the other one with you."

In a flash Kakashi is gone without a trace.

Kakashi ends up at a holding cell where a young man wearing a red trench coat, black pants and white gloves sits shackled. As Kakashi approaches the guard says, "Hey Kakashi, you come to get him out? He's been makin' 'em all day," pointing at a group of small figurines on the floor of the cell. When the blond haired boy notices Kakashi approaching a look of excitement washes across his face.

"Kakashi, your back! So did you find out anything about my brother?"

"Sorry Al, still nothing. But on the bright side the Hokage seems to trust you a bit more so she told me to take you on a mission to check out someone else that just appeared. I guess she figures you might know them."

"Great! Does this mean that later on we might be able to search for Ed?"

"We'll see."

The cell is opened and the two leave heading for the village's main gate.

A flash of light appears ten feet off the ground in a small clearing in the forest. A young man wearing a white tee shirt and blue jeans pops in and falls to the ground face first. He gets up off of the ground and dusts off his jeans. After a quick pat down he reaches into his pocket and pulls out what looks to be a small cell phone. He holds it up in the air as if he were trying to get a signal and remarks, "This thing is busted. Stupid Botan, I should have known that I couldn't get equipment that actually worked from her."

"Yusuke, you do know that I can still hear you right?"

"Umm….uh..yeah of course I knew," he lied, "I just wanted to make sure so that's why I said that…like that."

"Well, for your information the "Multifunction Trans-dimensional Cell Phone" is not broken. Lord Koenma said the last one ended up there so I transported you so you could go and check it out. Besides you looked like you needed to make a quick escape."

"I didn't need your help Botan, I had everything under control."

"Those things looked like they were about to eat you alive." Laughs.

"Shut up, I had them right wher…! Botan I have to go."

Yusuke closes the cell phone and puts it away, then raises his index finger and thumb to a bush.

"You can either come out now or I can make you come out!" No answer. "Fine, Spirit Gun!"

Kakashi and Al both dive out of the way of the attack as the blue beam decimated the bush they were hiding in. Al covers his eyes form the explosion and Yusuke notices red inscribed circles on the palms of Al's gloves.

Kakashi readies himself for a fight but before he can attack Al cuts in.

"Kakashi maybe we should try to talk to him."

"The kids right, Kakashi was it? So, are you guys working with Sensui?" Yusuke's phone rings but he turns it off. "And why are you wearing that ridiculous mask?" pointing at Kakashi's face. Kakashi fearing another blast from his finger rushes forward to attack. Yusuke jumps up hoping to avoid the attack, but Kakashi follows suit. Seeing Kakashi still coming full speed with his sword drawn, Yusuke aims directly for his mask and fires. "Spirit Gun!" Kakashi manages to dodge the attack in time but his evasion throws his attack off course as well. Yusuke has his right shoulder cut but not seriously. Being exhausted from fighting for what seems like the entire day Kakashi is unable to shift his momentum to rebound and launch a counter attack and instead continues moving forward and lands somewhere in the woods. As Yusuke lands he hears a smack. Turning to see what made the sound he sees a flash of lighting, seconds later he is trapped in a stone cage and notices Al with his hands on the ground..

"Hey kid you really think this is gonna stop me?"

Yusuke rears back and with a single punch reduces the cage to rubble. He attacks Al with a flurry of punches, but thanks to his training with his brother Al manages to dodge all of them. As Al gets up from ducking the last left hook he finds Yusuke's finger pointed directly at his face.

"Gotcha!"

Just then Yusuke sees a glint of light coming off of a kunai and pulls his head back to have the knife miss him by mere inches. As it passes in front of Yusuke's face Al catches the knife with his right hand, spins around and presses it lightly to Yusuke's chest.

As he exits the forest Kakashi chides, "You didn't forget about me did you?"

Kakashi decides to question the tied up Yusuke before they head back for the village.

"So who are you and what are you doing here?"

"My name is Yusu…."

"GRRRAAWWWW!" A blood curdling scream comes from what seems like all around them. A giant masked figure comes from the trees. It has yellow eyes, four arms, a huge tail and a massive hole in the center of its chest.

"Ka-Ka-Kakashi, what is that thing?" Al asked in a nervous voice.

"It's one of those things I was fighting just before I got here," Yusuke explained, "If you guys haven't fought one of these things yet, I strongly suggest we work together to get rid of it."

Kakashi eyes Yusuke suspiciously but decides to release him from the paper bombs binding him and all three prepare to engage the hollow.

Al claps his hands, places them on the ground and pulls up a long ornate staff with a blade on either end.

"Wish I could do something like that," Yusuke joked as he pointed his finger at the hollow, "Spirit Gun!"

The blast was only meant as a distraction which the hollow easily deflected. Yusuke jumped straight towards the hollow's face and delivers a solid right hook and smirks seconds before being swatted out of the air like a fly. Kakashi, seeing how strong the beast was, holds his sword out in front of him and yells, "Lighting Blade!" wrapping his sword in electricity and extending its length. Al throws his staff end over end and gets it to lodge itself in the hollows forehead. Kakashi leaps forward and cuts one of the hollow's four arms off and goes for another but is met with a fist crushing him into the ground. Preoccupied with the pain of losing an arm and trying to get the staff out of his head, the hollow doesn't notice Al creating four giant fist of his own on either side of him and attacking. With the hollow unable to move, Yusuke gets up and lands an uppercut to the hollow's chest and yells, "Shot Gun!" and wounds the hollow causing him to spit blood. Kakashi frees himself from the hollows fist just in time to hear the hollow scream and release a burst of spiritual pressure blowing back all three fighters. The hollow then opens his mouth and begins to build up a ball of crimson energy.

Yusuke recognizes the attack. "That move is very dangerous, and could most likely kill us all."

Kakashi puts together a few hand signs, "Earth Style: Giant Mud Wall!"

Yusuke slams his fists together and yells, "Spirit Wave!"

Within the orb of energy Al claps and places his hands on the ground encasing all three fighters in a dome of solid steel.

The hollow releases his cero creating a crater as he destroys all three barriers and looks at the beaten warriors, then he prepares for another blast.

"FINAL FLASH!" A wave of yellow energy cascades across the hollow reducing him to nothing more than ashes. A man clad in blue with long black hair lands in front of the battered group and says, "Pitiful. You guys are even worse than that fool Kakorrot."

The fighters stumble to their feet Al being the only one in the group that actually seems grateful for having his life saved. "How did you beat him so easily?" Al asked.

"Those creatures are no match for a saiyan elite. I've already destroyed three others like it."

"Big deal," Yusuke boasted, "I just took on a whole horde of those things a while ago, that one was a little bigger than I expected."

"This isn't some kind of a competition." Al whispered from the background as Vegeta and Yusuke started comparing stats.

"GRRRRAAWWWWW!"

"GGRRRRRRAAAAAAWWWWWW!"

"RRAAWWW…"

More screams, and considering how well they fared last time, Kakashi, Yusuke, and Al weren't too happy to find out more hollows were coming. Even Vegeta was looking a bit worn. As the gang of four hollows appeared from the trees the group prepared for a tough fight.

"Getsuga Tensho!" Ichigo's familiar voice rang out. A large jagged black and red crescent sliced through the four hollows and they each disintegrated. As the cloud of dust cleared from where the attack originated Ichigo said in an almost ice cold voice, "Tenza Zangetsu."


	2. The Outset

The Outset

Kakashi removes his mask and decides it's time to find out why everyone has been showing up in the Hidden Leaf Village.

Kakashi: "Why and how did you all get here?"

Ichigo powers down from his Bankai and joins the group.

Ichigo: "My handler, Kiske, sent me here using the Senkaimon saying, 'I'm sure you'll figure out why you need to be there once you show up.'"

Al: "Senkaimon?"

Ichigo: "It's like a gateway between dimensions, and he just changed the pathway to lead here."

Al: "Well I guess my story is kinda similar, when my brother disappeared I went to the place he was last seen. When I got there I found a transmutation circle on the ground. Even though it was a little messed up I was able to finish it and when I used it I ended up in front of a gate that led me here. After a short fight with one of Kakashi's partners I surrendered and ended up in a holding cell."

Yusuke: "I was sent here by my so called boss to find out why people with high spirit energy were moving around so sporadically and figure out who they were. I used this cell phone looking thing and landed in a place called Karakura."

Just then Yusuke remembers he turned off the phone earlier and quickly fumbles to turn it back on.

Vegeta: "Pathetic, you all have no idea what's really going on here do you?"

Kakashi: "Well why don't you explain some of the finer details then?"

While Kakashi continues to probe Vegeta for information, Yusuke gets in contact with Botan.

Botan: "Yusuke you idiot!" She blares on the device, "Why weren't you answering my calls?"

Yusuke: "Sorry I was a little busy. What was so important?"

Botan: "I wanted to tell you I looked up the two you encountered and found out they were the good guys."

Yusuke: "Well your message is a little late because we've already established that. So do you have any _useful_ information?"

Botan: "I can tell you that you should head back to the village with those guys."

Kakashi: "We're heading back to the village."

Yusuke: "Thanks a lot Botan." Yusuke remarks sarcastically as he closes his phone.

-Later-

Kakashi, Al, Ichigo, and Yusuke all stand before the Hokage waiting for answers. Tsunade says nothing as she pushes a button beneath her desk. Heavy metal panels slide down in front of the windows and another sealing off the door.

Tsunade: "This mission is top secret and no one outside of this room is to know about it.

Another button is pressed and three video screens show up on the metal panels. The first screen bares the image of a blue haired woman named Bulma, the second a man wearing a green and white striped hat named Kiske, and the third a baby named Koenma and his assistant Botan. Bulma looks around the room and begins to speak in a panicked voice.

Bulma: "Where is Vegeta?"

Yusuke: "You mean the guy with the spiky hair? He started mumbling something about low class, elites and carrots. Then he blasted off like a jerk."

Bulma: "I knew I should've sent Gohan instead."

Kakashi: "I'm sorry to interrupt, but what's going on? Why are they all here?"

Kiske: "We were using your village as a staging ground to see how well you would all fair against each other."

Al: "So this was all just one big game?"

Koenma: "Far from it. I'm sure you personally know that some people have been going missing, namely your brother Edward Elric."

Kiske: "It turns out a rouge Soul Reaper named Sousuke Aizen figured out how to use the Senkaimon to go to other dimensions before I did."

Ichigo: "So Aizen's behind all of this?"

Botan: "Not exactly. He used his ability to travel through dimensions and recruited the help of some less than amiable fighters to help him in his ambitions."

Bulma: "After he had his team he decided to kidnap some of the strongest threats to his plans so he took Goku, Naruto, and Edward."

Ichigo: "So you're saying the rest of us weren't strong enough threats for them to worry about?"

Tsunade: "Quite the opposite. When Koenma saw the trend of strong fighters being taken he contacted the rest of us and we decided to get you all together to discourage Aizen's team from attempting to take you."

Al: "What about me? I never got an invitation. I just so happened to stumble my way in here."

Tsunade: "It's no mistake that you ended up here.

Kakashi cuts in.

Kakashi: "So this is a simple rescue mission to secure the others."

Kiske: "No. It's not that simple. After Koenma contacted me I looked into what Aizen might be planning, and if my information is correct he might be trying to destroy the all of the other dimensions and leave only Heuco Mundo."

Al: "How can he do that?"

Bulma: "We still aren't sure but we are all working on it."

Tsunade: "While reinforcements have been called from some of the other dimensions, you are currently the entire team. You will be leaving soon, so if you don't wish to participate now is the time to back out."

Koenma: "Yusuke will take you all to Heuco Mundo."

Yusuke: "Using the phone thing?"

Botan: "It's called the 'Multifunction Trans-dimensional Cell Phone,' and yes."

Tsunade pushes the buttons on her desk again and the screens and metal panels retract. The team prepares to leave for Heuco Mundo after the briefing. Everyone leaves the office but Kakashi is stopped just before he walks out.

Tsunade: "Kakashi you do know why I have you using that particular mask correct?"

Kakashi: "Yes."

Tsunade: "Don't forget, it just may save your life."

Kakashi: "May I ask a question?"

Tsunade: "Yes?"

Kakashi: "Why aren't you sending Sakura on this mission with me?"

Tsunade: "She already has a very important S-rank mission to complete."

Kakashi: "Sai? Yamato?

Tsunade: "If you're having second thoughts about going I can sen…"

Kakashi: "No! Sorry Lord Hokage, but we both know I'm the only I'm one of the only ones that stands a chance of completing the mission."

Kakashi leaves the room and joins the others in front of the Hokage's mansion. As they go over a few of the details and other possibilities, they see Vegeta flying in and landing.

Vegeta: "So I take it you fools understand the situation."

Al: "I'd like to object to being called a fool."

Vegeta: "Shut up you little brat!"

Al shrinks back feeling very small thanks to Vegeta's harsh words.

Yusuke: "Don't let him get to you kid. I'm sure you're probably ten times stronger than him."

Yusuke's phone rings and Botan gives him a set of numbers to put in to the Multifunction Trans-dimensional Cell Phone. After punching them in a bright light engulfs the group and they are gone.

Moments later a flash of light appears ten feet above the ground in a dead forest in Heuco Mundo. The entire team appears and crashes to the ground except for Vegeta who was flying, and Kakashi who landed on his feet. After listening to Yusuke gripe about getting the phone fixed they took a moment to look around at the surroundings.

Al: "Remember what happened the last time we were in a forest clearing?"

Ichigo: "I've been here before and I know we need to move now."

"GGGGRRRRRAAAAWWWWWW!"

The Gillian sensed the spiritual pressure of their uninvited guests. A towering figure with a white mask and long pointed nose rose above the trees. Soon after another showed up, then another, and within seconds the team found themselves surrounded.

Ichigo: "We have to hit them hard and move fast."

Al: "Which way should we go?"

Ichigo: "That way." Ichigo said pointing at a large cliff face with a split running along the length of it.

Ichigo points his sword at one of the hollows and yells, "Bankai!" letting out a burst of energy that destroys one of the Gillian instantly. Kakashi reaches into his back pocket and pulls out his ANBU mask. A red aura rises from the ground and covers him and seems to seep into his skin before disappearing. Yusuke crosses his hands above his head as two bands of yellow light wrap around his wrists. He forces his arms down to his sides shattering to bands of light. Al claps his hands and places them on the ground, he creates the same ornate staff from before but with longer thicker blades. He grabs the center of the staff with both hands and twists it forming two weapons instead of one. Vegeta doesn't feel the monsters are worth the power of any of his Super Saiyan states so he ops to fight in his normal state.

The Gillian begin to attack, everyone on the ground moves with such lighting speed that they seem to disappear, everyone except Al that is. A Gillian drops his giant hand towards Al intent on smashing him. Al avoids the attack and stabs the Gillian's hand with one of his weapons pinning it to the ground. He races up the Gillian's arm and sees Ichigo flying back into battle after blocking a cero. When Al reaches the Gillian's shoulder he jumps up and slices off a portion of the mask and leaves a large gash on the monster's head. The Gillian looks up at Al and screams as he begins to charge a cero. Al claps his hand and grabs the piece of mask he had removed and uses it to make a beam to keep the Gillian's mouth open. He lands on the monster's teeth and claps his hands and holds them out in front of him, he heats the air within the giant hollow mouth so fast it creates a grand explosion completely removing the hollow's head and causing it to disintegrate.

When Al lands he looks forwards and sees Yusuke pointing his finger at him just before yelling.

Yusuke: "Spirit Gun!"

The blast flies just above Al's head and connects with a cero. The two beams create an explosion so large a smaller hallow standing nearby is destroyed. Yusuke follows up the attack by jumping towards the Gillian's face. He starts delivering crushing punches to the hollow mask, and with every punch he screams, "Shot Gun!" Seeing an opportunity to attack another Gillian charges up a cero and fires at Yusuke's back. Just before the beam reaches Yusuke it's deflected by Ichigo. As the Gillian Yusuke was just fight falls to the ground and disintegrates, he turns around and tells Ichigo to watch out. With a single large Spirit Gun shot, which looked like a cannon, Yusuke punches a hole through the face of the Gillian that tried to sneak attack him.

Ichigo squares off against a Gillian and moves in to attack. The monster reaches out his arm with his hand open trying to grab Ichigo. Ichigo turns his sword horizontal to block the attack and looks to his side and notice Vegeta blasting any and everything that doesn't look human. Ichigo pushes the Gillian's hand back and with one movement cuts off the monster's arm. He then runs up to the monster and delivers an upwards diagonal slash that leaves a trail of black and crimson energy. The Gillian screams but the sound ends abruptly as the creature disappears.

Kakashi takes a deep breath and lets the sound of his voice reverberate through his mask as he prepares for his attack. A Gillian begins to charge a cero, but before the energy can even fully form, Kakashi leaps and in the blink of an eye lands behind three Gillian. As he rises up all three Gillian split in half and disintegrate. Al sees Kakashi's attack and is left in awe. Not paying attention a Gillian lowers it head behind Al, opens its mouth and is ready to devour Al whole. Al turns around hearing the sound coming from behind him, when he sees the Gillian's mouth coming he has no time to dodge and is frozen with fear. Like magic, just before the Gillian can close its mouth, a hole appears in its head and its mask begins to crack. Turning around to see who had just saved him, Al sees a man wearing almost identical clothing to his. Red trench coat, black pants, black gloves and blond hair.

?: "Hey kid, ya got pretty good fashion sense."

Al: "Who are you?"

?: "Name's Vash," he answered as he put his gun back in its holster.

"You and your friends might want to come with me if you guys want to get out of this."

Al: "Hey everyone, there's a way out over here."

Everyone disengages from their battles and joins Al and Vash as they head for a nearby cave. Vegeta grunts disapprovingly, but he knows this is a fight they wouldn't win. He turns around and emits a "Big Bang Attack" to cover their tactical retreat.


	3. The Separation

The Separation

Just inside the cave Al creates a small glass jar and fills it half way with water. He places his hands on the jar and changes the composition of the molecules inside removing the oxygen and sealing the jar off. He heats the remaining Hydrogen until it forms Hydrogen gas. After a few more bursts of heat the gas starts to burn creating a perfect hand held lamp for the dark cave.

Yusuke: "How did you do that?"

Al: "Um…it's magic." Al answered not wanting to confuse Yusuke with the scientific details.

The hydrogen in the jar burns with a soft blue light as the group follows a long blue corridor. As they walk Vash tells them of his encounter with Yoruichi and how she helped him fend off a horde of Gillian and a guy with an armored right arm, Al cuts in to ask questions about the man. But he was let down finding that they looked nothing alike. Vash goes on to explain how Yoruichi helped him to transport to Heuco Mundo. In the middle of his explanation Yusuke's phone rings and he answers.

Yusuke: "Yeah, what is it?"

Botan: "Yusuke, We have some more intel for you."

Everyone in the group decides to take a break and listen to the new intelligence. Vegeta feeling it's pointless for him to wait for weaklings, continues on alone using a small ball of ki energy to light his way.

Vash: "Hey buddy you should probably wait for the rest of us."

Vegeta: "Like hell! You imbeciles would only serve to slow me down."

They lose sight of Vegeta as he rounds a corner.

Yusuke: "So Botan what's this new information?"

Botan: "We believe Aizen is trying to create a series of bombs to be released and detonated in the other dimensions."

Al: "Do we know how he's going to do it?"

Botan: "Not fully, but Souichiro Nagi and the Jyuukenbu managed to apprehend a demon named Naraku, and they were able to squeeze some information out of him. Aizen is trying to use three of the stronger fighters in his bomb plot some how but it's not clear. At the same time he intends to use his modified Senkaimon to transport the bombs."

Ichigo: "So we'll just have to smash the gate when we get there."

Koenma: "Sadly it won't be that easy Ichigo. The gate and the captives are in two separate locations, so your team will have to split up. The Senkaimon lies to the west and Aizen's head quarters is to the north, I've no doubt you'll encounter heavy opposition at both."

Yusuke: "Hey Koenma, how are things there?"

Koenma: "Well things are getting a little worse. Aizen seems to be aware of your presence and has dispatched some of his generals and Hordes of hollows to different dimensions. Kuwabara and the others are working with fighters from many different dimensions to hold off the hollows. A lot of fighters are being wounded so many fighters are hopping dimensions to help out where the hollow presence is greatest. With all the fights going on you can see why we can't exactly send you more help."

Yusuke: "It's fine I'm used to being outnumbered so we'll be ok."

Botan: "I do have one bit of good news before you go. Tsunade asked me to tell Kakashi that she managed to get him some back up and he'll be on his way shortly. She said he's one of the strongest ninja in the Leaf Village."

Kakashi: "Thanks for the update."

The team decides on the separate squads now before moving any further. While Kakashi lays out a strategy Al interrupts with a question.

Al: "What about that scary guy, Vegeta?"

While the others plan and coordinate Vegeta continues through the cave and eats a senzu bean to regain his energy. He makes his way to an atrium in the cave and sees four hollow masks looking at him from a distance. As they aren't attacking Vegeta sees no reason to attack either. A second later all the hollow masks turn away in one movement and a single one appears looking at Vegeta with glowing red eyes. Vegeta knows this one is different, even though it's not attacking it's still strong enough to pose a threat. With out a word he sends the ki ball he was using for light hurling at the hollow. The hollow dodges the attack and takes refuge in the darkness. Vegeta creates a small ball of light and tosses it to the ceiling of the cave where it remains illuminating the area. Vegeta sees the hollow mask coming at him but is startled to see the body of a man behind the mask with a sword drawn. Clearing his confusion Vegeta ducks the sword strike that takes off a few strands of his hair. When Vegeta gets a clear view of his opponent he realizes he is dressed just like the Soul Reaper Ichigo except he is wearing a brown fur pelt, a hollow mask and his hair is red. First thinking this guy might be an ally, Vegeta reconsiders feeling that his last sword attack was meant to kill him. The Soul Reaper charges at him with another attack but Vegeta quickly steps around him to attack from behind. But before Vegeta has a chance to attack he notice the Soul Reaper's hand already facing him as he says in a tone far too calm for the situation, "White Lighting." Vegeta is hit full force and is slammed into a wall and drops to his knees. The Soul Reaper looks at him with his sword down at his side almost mocking Vegeta to get up and attack. Frustrated with the outcome of the fight so far, Vegeta staggers to his feet and sends a volley of energy blasts at his opponent all of which are dodged quickly and easily. The shots end abruptly as Vegeta feels the point of the Soul Reaper's sword pressed lightly against the bottom of his chin. During what seemed to be a check mate the Soul Reaper expected Vegeta to admit defeat, but instead Vegeta put on an arrogant smirk and let out a confident grunt as he powered up to super saiyan.

The strong burst of energy that came with Vegeta's transformation was enough to knock the Soul Reaper back causing him to have to force his sword in the ground to keep from being blown away completely. Vegeta stood for a moment to give his opponent time to realize how overpowered he really was. Vegeta then held his hand out in front of him and charged up a ki blast and released it. The Soul Reaper felt the blast was easy enough to deflect so he prepared himself but was caught off guard by Vegeta saying, "Hey ugly." And while verbal insults wouldn't normally bother him this one came from behind causing him to focus his attention on it. When he turned around Vegeta came flying at him with an elbow to the gut, causing his back to ram into the energy blast increasing the force of the attack. When the smoke cleared Vegeta was surprised to see his opponent laying face first on the ground with a dome of red energy protecting him. As the dome dissipates one of the masks on the Soul Reaper's back cracks and falls away. "I see." Vegeta says to himself quietly, as he realized the fight might not be over as quickly as he thought.

Back at the entrance to the cave the rest of the group are still talking about their plan of action.

Kakashi: "So it's settled, since Ichigo is the only one that knows what a senkaimon looks like, he and I will Head west and take it out. The rest of you, Vash Al and Yusuke, will head north and free the other fighters. Are there any questions?"

Al: "Yeah, what about Vegeta?"

Yusuke: "Screw him!" he says with his finger in his ear.

Kakashi: "I'm not too sure he works well with a team, so for now we'll just carry out this mission as if he weren't a factor."

Yusuke: "Besides he probably already got himself killed by one of those things."

Ichigo: "They're called hollows, and after seeing him fight I'm not sure even I can take him out so easily."

Yusuke's phone rings as Vash sits down to clean his gun. He answers to a panicked Botan.

Yusuke: "What's up Botan?"

Botan: "I just heard form Kiske and Hohenheim that they couldn't hold back the monsters any longer and as a result hollows have completely overrun the town of Resembool!"

Al: "Winry!"

Botan: "Don't worry Al, Krillin and Orihime Inoue were there as well and helped to evacuate the area in time."

Yusuke: "So everyone's ok?"

Botan: "Not exactly we lost a few civilians, but Winry is currently working with Bulma to create a transportation device to make evacuations faster. But if you guys can shut down the senkaimon they're using to travel we won't need it."

Yusuke: "We'll do our best."

Botan: "One last thing, we got word that Vegeta may be fighting a rogue Soul Reaper named Ashido. Although he may look creepy he is one of the good guys down there and with all the commotion Aizen's been causing he might mistake you all for the enemy."

Yusuke: "Damn, that guy is such a hot head."

Botan: "Yusuke, aren't you one to talk."

Yusuke: "Shut the hell up Botan. No one asked you."

Yusuke closes the phone and the group continues down the cave westward keeping an eye out for a branching path that leads to the north.

Back at the atrium Vegeta has ascended to Super Saiyan 2 and Ashido has lost all but one of the masks on his back. Both fighters are exhausted and take a moment to catch their breath. Ashido returns to the offensive first and holds his sword out horizontally and charges up a cero. Surprised by the attack Ashido had learned by being around the hollow for so long, Vegeta wastes no time in charging up a Galick Gun of his own. The beams meet in the center of the cave and cause it to shake so violently that the Ichigo and the rest of the team have to brace themselves to withstand the quaking. The fighting in the cave is so fierce that it attracts the attention of a giant hollow roaming above. The hollow smashes through the roof of the atrium and lands in the middle of the fighters on all fours with a large tail and a mask that looks like a triceratops with crooked horns. The hollow turns for Vegeta and lets out a scream as it charges towards him. Vegeta lands a clean uppercut to the hollow's chin and shoots a ki blast into its face. The upwards force of the impact makes the beast almost stand up right, so Ashido takes the opportunity to slice the hollow in half. As the hollow disintegrates Vegeta turns just in time to see Ashido dash off understanding that the fight has no meaning if they both are against the hollows. Vegeta flies up through the hole left by the hollow and sees what he believes to be a castle off in the distance and decides that must be where the fighters are being held, so he blasts off.

A few minutes later the rest of the team reach the destroyed atrium.

Vash: "Guess we don't have to worry about finding a pathway that leads to the north." Vash says while pushing over a large piece rubble left over from the fight.

They all stand in a circle as Al lifts the section of ground they are standing on using alchemy.

Kakashi: "You all know the plan. Since we won't have a way to communicate we all have to be careful and depend on the other team to do their job. I'm sure when Aizen sees your group coming he is going to try to call for reinforcements from the senkaimon but Ichigo and I will try to occupy them. Now lets move out."

Ichigo: \

Yusuke: \

**"RIGHT!"**

Al: /

Vash: /

The team breaks off in separate groups and Kakashi and Ichigo head west towards a castle, while Vash, Al, and Yusuke go north towards an empty wasteland.

Yusuke: "AHH! This is stupid! There's nothing here, just an endless desert!"

Vash: "I'm sure we'll get there soon, after all that Botan chick said it was this way."

Yusuke: "You really trust Botan's information?"

Vash: "Well she seemed pretty sure that this was the direction we should be headed."

Yusuke: "LOOK!" Yusuke screams as he waves his hands to the desert before them, "There's nothing here, and we've been walking for hours!"

Vash: "We've been walking for less than twenty minutes, and do you really think that the enemy would just show us their base and say, 'Hey, we're over here?'"

Al: "Umm, guys maybe we should just take a break…"

Al's ignored as Vash and Yusuke take turns yelling at each other. Unable to stop the small implosion of their team, Al watches on until a light wind kicks up. As sand starts to swirl a few inches off the ground Al sees the vague shape of a man and hears a voice that sounds remarkably like his brother's.

?: "Al…"

Al, feeling a little suspicious of the sudden apperance of his brother, tries to get Yusuke and Vash's attention but is still being ignored. With another faint call Ed begins to walk away towards the east.

Al: "Hey guys…" still being ignored, "Brother, wait don't go."

Al rushes off after his brother. As he runs through a small cloud of sand the wind grows stronger and covers his tracks. As he pushes through the sand that's now swirling all around him Al can barely make out his brother's red coat. After a few minutes of wading through the endless sea of sand Al finally reaches Ed who has stopped walking. The wind that has been causing the sand to stir slowly dies down.

As the wind dies Yusuke and Vash who had been arguing throughout the mini sand storm, are intruppted by the ringing of Yusuke's phone. Yusuke pulls it out of his pocket as Vash looks around suddenly noticing how quiet it is.

Botan: "Yusuke, have you reached the prisoners yet?"

Yusuke: "No! Botan you idiot, there's nothing in this direction."

Botan: "I'm absolutely positive that's the way."

Vash: "Hey Yusuke…"

Yusuke: "Well there's nothing here just endless desert for miles, I mean at least the other guys saw a castle off in the distance."

Vash: "Hey, Yusuke…"

Botan: "Well did you ever think maybe it's cloaked? I'm sure the enemy wouldn't just show you their base and say, 'Hey, we're over here.'"

Yusuke: "Ack, that's the same thing that broom head guy said. Were you listening the whole ti…"

Vash: "HEY! YUSUKE!"

Yusuke: "WHAT?!"

Vash: "Where's Al?"


	4. The Bullets

The Bullets

Al approaches Ed from behind and places his hand on his shoulder. Just as he touches him Al hears a screech and Ed's body turns completely black. Al yanks his hand back as a black crow flies from his brother's shoulder. Al watches in horror as his brother explodes into black crows that fly off into different directions. Still shaken by the sight, Al is surprised by the sound of chuckling coming from behind him.

?: "Foolish child."

Al whirls around to face a man with red eyes black hair and wearing a long black robe with red clouds printed on it.

Al: "W-who..who are you?"

?: "My name is Itachi, and I am the last of the Uchiha clan."

Before another word could be spoken Al felt a piece of cold steel press against his neck and realized there was another Itachi standing behind him. Itachi said nothing as he slit Al's throat form left to right. As Al gasped for air his eyes turned cold and dead.

Al: "I knew there was something about those eyes." Al called from behind the second Itachi.

Itachi: "Hmm, so it's true that genjutsu does not work on alchemists," said the first Itachi.

Al: "The only way you could know that is if you met my brother! Where is he?!"

As they spoke the Al that had his throat cut slowly turned to sand and fell to the ground, while the Itachi that killed him burst into crows and flew away.

Itachi: "You're right, I have met your brother. And I'll gladly give you his location if you can defeat me…but if you can't he'll die like the rest of the worthless trash."

At that Al wasted no time in creating a small dagger and going on the offensive. He puts the dagger in his right hand and charges. As he runs he claps his hands together then takes a half hearted swipe at Itachi who easily jumps over the weak attack. While Al is still running full speed he puts his left hand on the ground and goes into a one hand handstand. He throws the dagger with is right hand at the still airborne Itachi who returns fire with a kunai of his own. As the knives deflect each other Al puts his right hand on the ground as well and sends a torrent of arrows flying at Itachi. Itachi is unable to dodge all of the arrows in midair and winces at the pain of one passing completely through his right shoulder. Slightly distracted by the pain yet fully prepared to counter attack, Itachi is again surprised when he sees a group of spikes lining his landing area. Thinking quickly Itachi pulls out a kunai with a paper note attached to it. He throws it, and as it flies it transforms into a massive steel weight that creates a large plume of dust when it lands in the sand. Itachi pulls on a near invisible piece of filament wire attached to the weight and yanks himself into the safety of the dust cloud. Al claps his hands and places them on the ground sending a large wave of heat towards the cloud of sand and dust. The sand is heated so high until the particles start to become glass. Itachi realizes what's going on and pulls out two kunai. The glass is suspended in midair for only a moment before Al sends them shooting from all directions. As the assault starts Itachi calmly begins dodging and deflecting the glass shards, but due to his earlier injury at least one shard gets through completely and lodges itself in his left leg. The remaining glass shards are either broken, dodged, or deflected, and aside from a few extra scrapes and small cuts Itachi stands bleeding from his right arm with a large piece of glass sticking out of his left leg but still ready to fight.

Itachi thinks for a moment, contemplating what would be the best attacks to use against an alchemist. His sharingan is all but useless since one of the main strengths of alchemist is to understand the world around them. Itachi puts together some hand signs then grabs hold of the glass still in his left leg and throws it into the sky. Al is distracted by the glass for a split second before he notices the intense heat of the enormous fire ball flying towards him. Instinctively Al claps his hands and places them on the ground creating a steel wall to shield himself. As soon as the wall is erected Al hears Itachi's foot steps behind him. He notices Itachi's left hand is covered in electricity, but before he has time to understand what is going Itachi disappears and an agonizing pain shoots through his right shoulder. After a long gut wrenching scream Al looked at the hand that had his shoulder pinned to his own steel wall. As he marveled at the speed Itachi still had with his injuries he realized he wasn't finished. Al looked into Itachi's eyes as thick black blood slowly pooled up and began to pour out like tears. Just then Al saw the glint of black flames reflect in Itachi's eyes as Al's coat caught fire. Itachi removed his hand from Al's shoulder and step back as Al fell to the ground screaming. Al's body was engulfed in black flames that burned everything around him as he thrashed wildly trying to put himself out. After a few more agonizing screams Al stopped moving and moments later a wave of red energy burst from his body counteracting the flames. As the flames slowly died down Itachi was surprised to see Al struggling to his feet with his body glowing a crimson red. When he finally stood Itachi saw that his body looked completely untouched by the flames and that he had bright red tattoos all over his body that slowly turned black. The area around the wound in Al's shoulder glowed a dull crimson as it healed itself before Itachi's eyes. When the wound was fully healed the tattoos faded away and Al passed out in the circle of charred sand and black glass.

Vash: "Al!? Where are you!?"

Yusuke: "What do you think he'll say, 'Hey, I'm over here?"

Vash: "Now isn't the time for us to be fighting."

Yusuke: "Yeah, you're right."

As the two searched feebly, a large floating gate appeared in the sky and a group of hollows jumped out and surrounded them. Vash pulled his gun from its holster and fires a single shot at one of the hollows which cracks its mask and causes it to disintegrate. Yusuke smirks and lifts his index finger and thumb and says "Spirit Gun!" The blast leaves a large hole in a hollow's face and it disintegrate. A light competition begins and the two start to systematically clear the hollows. As the number of hollows in the area start to dwindle Yusuke sees a small mound of sand explode and disappear. Vash and Yusuke look around and see young man with red hair, a blue vest, yellow and black eyes and an armored right arm.

Vash: "Hey that's him, the guy I fought earlier."

Yusuke: "You mean the guy with the…"

Vash: "Yeah that him."

Yusuke: "Good." Yusuke cracks his neck and smirks, "This time he's mine"

Vash and Yusuke ready themselves for the battle.

Vash: "Well?" Vash motions with his weapon. "You wanted him, go get him. I'll take care of the kiddies."

Vash lifts his gun and points it to the sky. He fires a shot that hits a falling hallow and causes it to disintegrate just before hitting him. Yusuke yells "Spirit Gun!" and fires a blast at the mysterious man which he simply slaps aside. Yusuke decides he'll need to step up his game a bit if he's going to win this one. The young man rears back and Yusuke can see three large curved blades sticking out from his right shoulder.

?: "Shocking First Bullet!"

Yusuke dodges to the left, and a blast of white energy flies past him engulfing one of the hollows and destroying it. Yusuke watches one of the curved blades on the man's back crumble away. Meanwhile Vash is still wiping out the hollows, dancing around them in what seems more like art than combat, and after six consecutive shots taking out six different hollows he flips open his gun's chamber and pours out the shells to reload but some of the hollow take this opportunity to attack.

Vash: "Tsk! I didn't want to use this."

Vash reaches in to his coat and pulls out a black pistol identical to his current one except for the color. He quickly takes out the few hollows that tried to attack and then reloads both weapons, flips into the air and opens fire on the remaining hollows laughing wildly as if he's lost control. Yusuke sees Vash going all out and feels his fight is too boring.

Yusuke: "Hey buddy, let's step up our fight too ok?"

?: "Let's!"

With that the man punches the ground and sends himself flying through the air. Yusuke shields his eyes from falling sand as he hears…

?: "Annihlating Second Bullet!

The wave of energy slams into Yusuke whose unable to dodge it. The attack leaves his shirt shredded, his skin badly burned, and Yusuke doubled over in pain. As the young man lands in front of Yusuke another of the blades on his back crumbles away.

Yusuke: "*huff* That's all you got?"

?: "…."

Yusuke uses all of his strength in an uppercut which sends the man reeling backwards. Yusuke dashes forward and gives him a kick in the gut followed by a right cross that sends him tumbling across the sand. The young man slams his right hand into the ground causing sparks to leap forth as he grinds to a halt. As he rises to his feet he sees Yusuke running towards him and yells…

?: "Exterminating Las…"

Yusuke: "Shot Gun!"

Yusuke punches the young man's fist just before he can finish his attack and sends as much spiritual energy as possible through it. The armor on the man's arm begins to crack and let out a light blue glow. Yusuke jumps back moments before the armor explodes into a fireball. When the smoke and flames clear, the young man is laying in the sand defeated, and his arm that was once armored charred black. Vash, still fighting off the hollows glances over as Yusuke's fight ends.

Vash: "Good you're done now you can help me with the rest of these things."

Yusuke: "Yeah yeah whatever."

As Yusuke turns to head over to Vash he sees a small chunk of sand in front of him explode and disappear. Startled, Yusuke looks over to where the man was laying and sees the same thing happen in front of him. Yusuke continues watching as man's charred arm receives its armor once again and even worse his left is armored as well, the armoring now having two jagged lines running down both sides of his arms. The man stumbles to his feet, and Yusuke notices that there is now a long curved blade on his back, and his face now has eight small blades protruding from it, four on either side. Yusuke prepares himself for another fight as the curved blade on the man's back began to spin and he dashes forward. A sinister smirk plays across his face as he comes to a full halt with a punch yelling…

?: "Shot Gun!"

Yusuke although surprised at seeing his own attack still has enough time to bring up his spirit wave shield. Being worn from the earlier fight, Yusuke is nearly unable to block the entire attack that is amazingly far stronger that his own version. The assault continues and Yusuke's shield finally gives way under the extreme pressure and explodes with a blinding white light catching Vash's attention. Yusuke closes his eyes from the intense light and when he opens them the young man is inches away from his face. Yusuke looks down and sees both of the man's fist pressed against his gut. The young man calmly says…

?: "Eviscerating Fourth Bullet."

Yusuke is blasted through the air covered in flames, and as Vash finishes off the last hollow a moment too late, Yusuke's body lands in the sand burned and bloody. Vash turns and fires the remaining four bullets in his gun directly at the young man's head. The young man lifts his armored left arm to his forehead and stops the bullets, each of which slam into the end of the bullet before it making a small stack before falling to the ground. Vash places the black pistol back into its holster under his coat, as the blade on the man's back begins to spin quickly lifting him into the air. He lifts his arms pointing them down towards Vash and yells…

?: "Machine Gun!"

A countless number of energy shots are fired in rapid succession. Vash quickly glances at Yusuke's body before it is blasted across the desert before Vash can attempt to shield it. Vash tries to dodge the attacks and is successful for a moment until he is hit by one and then pounded with a series of explosions. After attacking long enough for anything alive to be thoroughly wiped out the man stops to survey his opponent's body. Still wrapped in smoke and dust Vash lets out a small chuckle before a large beam of energy is emitted from the cloud. The man dodges most of the attack but the blade on his back is caught and shattered sending him crashing back to the ground. As the young man looks back to the dust cloud Vash begins to speak.

Vash: "I guess I should be thanking you for knocking that guy out. I didn't want the others seeing me use this attack."

The cloud of smoke and dust is blown away as Vash swings a giant silver weapon over area. The man looks up and clenches his fist noticing that the weapon is attach to Vash's arm, running all the way up to his shoulder with a large orb of blue energy pulsating in the center of his forearm.

Vash: "So care to tell me your name before you left in a smoking pile of ashes?

?: "I am Kazuya of the Shell Bullet. AND I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED! OBLITERATING FIFTH BULLET!"

Vash: "Reckless."

As Kazuya charges in for his attack Vash aims his weapon bracing it with his left hand. The weapon fires sending another blast of energy towards Kazuya which he punches with the energy of his Obliterating Bullet. As Kazuya tries to force the attack back he finds himself being pushed back grunts with determination as a small section of sand explodes and the blade on his back is recreated, As it begins to spin he is able to stop the attack and begin to force it back to Vash.

Vash: "That won't be enough."

The blue orb in the center of Vash's forearm starts pulsating with energy again before emitting another blast adding it to the stream of energy already being put out. The added force manages to push Kazuya's attack aside letting the full force of Vash's attack slam into his chest. As Kazuya goes tumbling across the sand Vash drops his arm and takes a few deep breaths, feeling worn having fired half of his weapon's attacks. Kazuya's body finally rolls to a stop and Vash begins to look around to see if he can find out where Yusuke's body landed, but his attention is snapped back to Kazuya when he hears him screaming. Kazuya stands screaming having chosen not to close the distance between himself and Vash after being blown away, more sand disappears as three more blades appear on his back, another on his left shoulder blade and one long ridged one below each curved one. The curved blades begins to spin quickly and the ridged blades lodge themselves in the sand, Kazuya holds his arms out in front of him with the palms facing inwards. More sand disappears as golden armor covers his two arms binding them together, and continued up to his shoulders and across his chest.

Kazuya: "DEATH BULLET!"

Vash: "Aw hell."

The blades begin to spin even faster emitting a golden energy to the rear as a gigantic wave of energy is shot out of the cannon in front. Vash quickly aims his weapon and fires a stream of energy. Vash's attack clashes with Kazuya's only to begin getting pushed back almost instantly. Vash removes his left hand from his weapon as the orb begins pulsing and reaches into his coat to retrieve his second pistol. His second shot is fired slowing the attack but not nearly enough to stop it. Vash holds the black pistol in the air and it looks as if it begins to melt over his arm as it forms a black version of the weapon on his right arm but with a red orb in the center, He ready's the weapon and attacks sending a stream of red energy that mixes with his blue energy to stop Kazuya's attack. The red orb pulses once and fires another blast of energy that starts to push the attack back, and then it quickly pulses four more times each adding to the power of the attack. Kazuya is overpowered and the attack is sent flying back at him and explodes sending his unconscious body flying. Vash struggles to catch his breath as he falls to his knees and lets both of his weapons revert to pistols. He looks around for Yusuke but can't stay conscious any longer and falls to his passing out.

Kakashi and Ichigo, still running towards the far off castle stop suddenly as they hear the explosion from Vash's battle.

Ichigo: "You don't think…?"

Kakashi: "We can't be worried about that right now. If they need help it will have to wait until our mission is complete.

?: "Seems as if Kazuya was a bit too carless. I will not be making the same mistake."

Still flying full speed towards the castle Vegeta pays no mind to the explosion as he senses the energy of another one of his "companions" falling in battle. He knows if he can find and kill whoever took Kakorrot he can end the entire stupid game. His thoughts are interrupted when he is attacked from above sending him crashing into the sand. He gets to his knees and shakes his head then looks through the sand plume billowing around him and sees the figure of a man covered in red holding two weapons. He wipes a trail of blood from his chin.

Vegeta: "Good, I was afraid this was going to be easy."


	5. The Speed

The Speed

As the dust cloud clears Vegeta kicks over a large boulder and thinks to himself that this place must be where they got the materials for that horrible castle. He looks up to the person that attacked him and realizes that it's just a boy, glowing red and holding two weapons in the shape of electric guitars. Without a word the boy starts flying towards Vegeta head first at high speed. Vegeta, feeling this will be another silent battle, readies himself for the attack by taking up a fighting stance. The boy flies in quickly and stops just inches from Vegeta's face, where Vegeta can see a strange circle inscribed on the boy's forehead and also notices that his eyes are black and yellow. The boy swings the guitar in his right hand as Vegeta throws up his left forearm to guard planning to counterattack. The attack connects with his forearm and sends him tumbling across the sand and slamming through a few boulders. Vegeta staggers to his feet shaking his head as he tries to figure out what just happened. The attack itself wasn't crazy powerful, but it was a burst of kinetic energy after the attack connected that sent him flying. The boy comes flying in again, but this time Vegeta decides not to give him a chance for a proper attack. He jumps into the air flying backwards launching a volley of energy blasts. The boy places his two guitars in from of him with the necks in the center and begins spinning using them like propellers deflecting the energy blasts. Seeing the blasts being deflected Vegeta fires a beam that's also deflected and scattered. When the boy finally reaches Vegeta he lifts both his guitars above his head and smashes them into Vegeta, sending him rocketing back to the ground. He smashes through a boulder and lands in the sand on his back. Before he has a chance to pick himself up the boy lands on top of him and begins beating him further into the ground using his guitars. With each hit of the guitars Vegeta can feel himself losing more self control, until finally he can't take it. He explodes into Super Sayian, blasting the boy and a hand full of boulders away from him.

Vegeta: "That's it! This little game is over!"

Vegeta holds his hand out in front of him and sends a large blast of energy at the boy. The boy lifts his guitar to deflect the attack but it explodes the moment it makes contact with the weapon. Vegeta smirks with satisfaction having finally made a successful attack since the start of the fight. He rushes over to the boy still engulfed in the explosion and uppercuts him hard enough to take him off his feet, and after a few more crushing blows to the face, Vegeta kicks him into the air. Vegeta pursues and sends him flying back down with a double fisted slam, and follows it up with a relentless volley of energy blasts. Vegeta laughs wildly as each of his blasts create another crescendo with its explosion.

Long after the area is far too clouded with sand and debris to see anything Vegeta stops firing. Expecting to see the boy lying in a crumpled heap, Vegeta is surprised to see the boy standing looking up at him seemingly untouched. Irritated, Vegeta clenches his fists for a few seconds before holding his palm out towards the boy.

Vegeta: "Big Bang…"

Before the attack is finished, the boy disappears in the blink of an eye. Confused about where the boy went, Vegeta looks around a split second before he is hit in the face with a guitar. He's sent flying and struggles to open his eyes to find where the attack came from, but before he can locate the boy his back connect with another attack from a guitar followed quickly by one to his head sending him ground ward once again. Vegeta lands on his knees a second before the boy appears before him. Instead of landing Vegeta notices the boy's feet hover just off the ground as a constant stream of pressure pushes the sand further and further into the ground.

Vegeta: "What are you?"

The question goes unanswered as Vegeta is attacked again sending him through more boulders.

Elsewhere Al wakes up to find himself in a cell surrounded by black metal. A man clad in white with brown hair stands just outside the cell,

?: "You're finally awake."

Al: "Who are you? Where am I? What do you want?"

?: "So many questions, but so little respect. But I suppose I can muse you with a few answers. My name is Aizen, and you are a guess in my fine Alchemist-Proof prison cell. And as far as what I want, that's simple. You."

Aizen turns from the cell and walks away leaving Al screaming for his freedom.

Ichigo and Kakashi move in back to back as sand begins to swirl around them. A long metal ribbon comes flying through the sand and Ichigo deflects it with his sword. The ribbon comes in from the other side and Kakashi slaps it aside, then yells into the sand storm,

Kakashi: "Who's out there?"

?: "I'm glad you asked."

The sand begins to die down to reveal a young man with blue hair wearing a blue and white military uniform, with a golden patch that reads "HOLY" on his shoulder, and glowing black and yellow eyes.

?: "I am Ryuho, Master of Zetsuei. I'm sorry but Aizen wishes you to go no farther. And if you insist, I am duty bound to end your life."

Ryuho waves his arm out to the side and hollows begin to appear surrounding the pair.

Ichigo: "Well we are 'insisting' and if it means we have to go through you, that's fine with me." Ichigo says quietly to Kakashi, "I'll take the pretty boy, you handle the hollows."

Ichigo dashes in with his sword above his head intent on cutting Ryuho down in one strike if possible. He attacks but instead of connecting with Ryuho, his attack lands on the two blue ribbons that attacked them earlier. Ichigo notices that the ribbons aren't coming from Ryuho, but just behind him where a "man" wearing white and black with the left half of his face covered with metal and his arms wrapped up in what looks like a metal straitjacket, and two blue metal ribbons protruding from his neck stands defending him. Zetsuei, the bound man, tosses Ichigo back and moves in to attack. Ryuho watches the fight and motions his hands as if controlling Zetsuei's actions. Kakashi sees this as an opportunity to remove Ryuho since his attention is focused elsewhere. He closes in to attack but is slashed by one of the hollows surrounding the area. He reaches for his back pocket feeling his mask and thinks to himself that now is not the time. Instead he pulls out a few kunai with explosive notes on them, he throws them while jumping into the air and putting together a few hand signs.

Kakashi: "Fire-Style, Fireball Jutsu."

The kunai land in the heads of a few of the hollows before the fire ball meant for Ryuho is intercepted by three more hollows. As the attacks all explode Kakashi lands with his right hand covered in lightening. A row of hollows gather in front of Ryuho barring Kakashi's path but he charges through them destroying each in succession until he can finally see his true target. He stretches out his arm to attack but before he can connect Ryuho blinks from sight and ends up standing behind him. "_He's fast." _Kakashi thinks to himself, as he spins around with his arm still out for a follow up attack. Ryuho disappears again and reappears standing on Kakashi's out stretched arm.

Ryuho: "That's the best you can do?"

Kakashi: "Not quite."

Kakashi uses his left hand to lift his head band uncovering his Sharingan as Ryuho leaps from his arm landing behind Zetsuei and a group of hollows move in between him and Kakashi. Kakashi places his hands together in front of his eye.

Kakashi: "Mangekyou Sharingan"

The space in the center of the hollows begins to swirl as a black vortex begins to suck them all in. While Kakashi works on disposing the hollows Ichigo fends off what seems like constant attacks from Zetsuei. As one of the ribbons come in for an attack from above he turns his blade horizontal then pushes forward leaping towards Zetsuei spinning.

Ichigo: "Getsuga Tensho."

The black and red crescent flies forth from the sword in a spiral. Ryuho waves his arms pulling Zetsuei out of the way of the attack that strikes the sand then slices through a horde of hollows trying to escape Kakashi's vortex. Ryuho looks around for Ichigo but is surprised to see him falling from the air above Zetsuei with his blade wrapped in the energy of a Getsuga. Ryuho motions to have Zetsuei evade but doesn't finish his motion when he feels a sharp stabbing pain entering the back of his left shoulder. He looks to his left shoulder and finds Kakashi's bloody hand coming through it having completely penetrated it, a second later Ichigo attacks Zetsuei cutting him in half. Ryuho looks up just in time to see Zetsuei's two halves fall to the ground, then turns his eyes back to his shoulder to see Kakashi making a fist.

Kakashi: "I noticed you need to move your hands to keep control of that thing's actions. And without control of your shoulder that can't happen. Lightening Blade!"

Kakashi charges his fist with electricity letting it run through Ryuho's body as he screams. After a moment Kakashi removes his hand and lets Ryuho slump to the ground.

Kakashi: "Let finish off the rest of these things and get moving."

Ichigo: "Right."

They both turn and continue wiping out the hollow with as little effort as possible to conserve energy. Ichigo slices a few hollows in half and then notices a large mound of sand explode and disappear followed by a few smaller ones.

Ichigo: "Kakashi?"

Kakashi: "Yeah I saw it too."

They finish off the last of the hollows and turn around to find Ryuho and Zetsuei standing once again.

Ryuho: "You're right." Speaking to Kakashi, "Normally I would need to use my hands to control Zetsuei. But for you two I think I'll let him cut loose."

He waves his arm and the metal covering the left half of Zetsuei's face falls off as well as the bindings around his arms. His arms unfold with three long claws instead of fingers and his legs fuse into a long serpent like tail and he gains two large spikes on either side of his face. Two thin blue blades form around Ryuho's hands and without another word he and Zetsuei go on the offensive. They disappear and reappear behind Ichigo and Kakashi. Ryuho slashes Kakashi's back while Zetsuei smacks Ichigo with his tail sending him tumbling across the sand. Zetsuei follows up the attack by shooting two small rockets located just below both of his arms. As the rockets explode and Zetsuei takes off to attack Ichigo, Kakashi turns to face Ryuho and drops a smoke bomb. He leaps into the air from the smoke and begins to put together some hand signs, but Ryuho appears directly in front of him in mid air and delivers a flurry of slices to his arms and chest. He finishes the assault with a kick sending Kakashi colliding with Ichigo who had just been tail whipped into the air. The pair struggle to their feet as Ryuho and Zetsuei appear before them. Kakashi slowly reaches into his back pouch and pulls out his mask. Ichigo nods to Kakashi knowing that they have to end this as soon as possible since they are both running out of energy. Ichigo places his hand in front of his face and his mask appears just as Kakashi places his over his face and a dark red aurora lifts from the ground and envelops him.

Ichigo: "Getsuga Tensho!"

Ichigo swings his sword horizontally sending out the jagged attack. Zetsuei steps in front of Ryuho to block the attack, and the instant the attack is deflected and begins to dissipate Kakashi can be seen behind it with his blade drawn. Zetsuei has no time block the second attack and is cut in half and Kakashi locks blades with Ryuho. Ryuho looks through the mask at Kakashi's eyes for a second before he hears Ichigo's follow up attack.

Ichigo: "Getsuga Tensho."

Kakashi leaps into the air as Ryuho attempts to block the vertical slash that kicks up a large amount of sand and dust. Ichigo continues slashing in every direction as quickly as possible releasing more crescents into the maelstrom. Kakashi, still airborne above the cloud spreads his arms apart and starts charging a swirl of yellow chakara in both hands. He brings his hands together pointing them downwards and yells,

Kakashi: "Final Flash!"

The wave of yellow chakara slams into the ground drilling a crater into the sand with Ryuho lying bloody in the center. Kakashi lands at the edge of the crater and Ichigo walks over next to him. They overlook Ryuho's fallen body only for a moment before the edges of the crater begin to explode and disappear. They both take up a fighting stance and begin looking around for Zetsuei to appear as he had done before. But instead they are surprised to see blue metal blades and armor appearing around Ryuho's body. Ryuho begins floating off of the ground until he is upright and lands in the center of the crater. He now has long blue blades extending from his hand, shoulders, and even two on either side of his face. Ichigo and Kakashi focus their attention on Ryuho realizing Zetsuei would not be appearing. They are both shocked to feel their masks crack and begin to crumble away an instant before Ryuho vanishes and appears with his blades stretched out just in front of their faces where their masks had once been. "_I could barely track him with the Sharingan_" Kakashi thinks in horror as Ichigo goes flying with a gash across his chest from one of Ryuho's blinding fast attacks. Ryuho give Kakashi an evil grin, and Kakashi can feel a searing pain in his left shoulder before he can even see Ryuho move to attack. Kakashi grasps at the blade in his shoulder as he tries to understand why the attack are all landing before he can even tell they've started. Ryuho kicks Kakashi in the chest removing him from his blade and sending him tumbling across the sand. When he finally stops, Kakashi gets to his knee to check his shoulder and finds that there is no blood but the area inside the wound has been cauterized. Ryuho's attacks were so fast they were creating enough friction and heat to seal off the wounds the second they were created. Ichigo, having recovered from his attack charges in with his blade wrapped in a Getsuga but as he makes his diagonal slice, Ryuho splits into four different images and disappears leaving a trail of burning glass. He appears just behind Ichigo and stabs him with both blades in his back and through his gut. Ichigo screams out and spits up blood before slumping over and sliding off the blades into the sand. Ryuho turns with a sick grin and begins walking over to Kakashi intent on finishing him off as well.

Back in the dead forest clearing the group had first entered, a bright light flashes and a small ship appears in the air and falls to the ground. A young man jumps out of the ship and pushes a button inside the cockpit that turns the ship into a small capsule. He puts the capsule in his pocket and pulls out a small circular device with a green grid and blinking lights on it.

?: "West. Right I'd better hurry."

He takes off leaving behind a cloud of dust headed towards the cave the group had used to make their escape from the Gillian.


	6. The Strong

The Strong

Vegeta comes crashing to the ground again and comes to a knee wiping away a trail of blood that had gathered near the corner of his mouth with his right hand. He watches the boy fly in zigzags blinking from sight every so often. Suddenly the boy starts flying towards Vegeta as he stands up with a look of renewed determination to defeat the boy. Just before the boy reaches Vegeta he swings the guitar in his right hand and Vegeta throws up his left forearm to block against it. The instant the attack connects Vegeta bursts into Super Sayian 2 sending sand and boulders flying in all directions. Vegeta quickly holds his right hand out to the side and sends out a burst of force to counteract the incoming kinetic charge from the boy. He then shifts his left hand to take hold of the boy's forearm and charges an orb of energy with his right hand. He punches him in the face and lets the energy explode with the attack sending the boy tumbling across the sand. Vegeta quickly flies in front of the boy's path and stops him by stomping down on his chest. He looks at the boy's face and can see that a portion of the red glow has crumbled away from the left side of his face as if it were a protective shell of armor. Seeing the boy finally had a weakness Vegeta holds out both of his hands in front of him with his fingers spread apart and the index finger and thumb of each hand touching.

Vegeta: "Buster Cannon!"

Vegeta puts so much force into the attack that hit pushes him into the air as the boy is engulfed in a fireball. As the flames smoke and dust die down Vegeta can see the boy slowly stumbling to his feet. Most of the red glow had been stripped away from the left half of his upper body as well as his entire face. Vegeta smirks to himself knowing the fight will be over soon, but is shocked when the boy grips the guitar in his left hand tighter and the glowing aurora begins creeping up his arm again repairing itself. The boy blinks from sight and attacks from above, but Vegeta easily dodges the attack having increased his speed after reaching Super Sayian 2. Vegeta places his hands over his right shoulder as purple energy begins to gather. Vegeta grimaces at the thought of having to use so many powerful attacks to take down just one boy, but shakes his head quickly to banish the thought.

Vegeta: "Galick Gun!"

The boy lifts his guitars pointing them at Vegeta and an orb of red energy begins charging at the end which is fired as a beam. Vegeta is surprised, not only by the boy being able to produce a projectile attack but the sheer power behind it. As the beams vie for dominance, Vegeta can feel himself being slowly overpowered. He can feel himself slowing running out of energy to keep up the fight but then for a split second a shot of black lightening arcs across his body and he can feel some of his energy reserves become replenished. He pours as much power as he can into his attack and manages to turn the tide pushing the beam back at the boy. But instead of being hit by the massive attack the boy blinks from sight and attacks Vegeta from below hitting him in the gut causing him to cough up blood then flies around and attacks from above sending Vegeta crashing to the ground once more. Vegeta struggles to pick himself up and once standing he holds his hand out towards the boy and tries to charge up a ki blast but can't draw out enough to attack. He closes his hand to a fist and drops it to his side as he loses his Super Sayian state knowing that his defeat is all but completely assured. The boy comes flying in again ready to finish the fight and Vegeta looks up at him and yells,

Vegeta: "Fine, but if I'm going to hell, I'M TAKING YOU WITH ME!"

The boy reaches striking distance as Vegeta throws up both of his hands and an arc of black lightening shoots across his body before releasing a massive explosion. The attack sends the boy flying through the air and landing in the sand far away, and Vegeta is left laying on his back in a searing pile of glass inches away from death but slightly conscious. Vegeta barely able to keep his eyes open thinks to himself, _"Curse you Kakorrot," _he coughs up a bit of blood. _"I can't believe I came to save your worthless hide and ended up like this." _He closes his eyes for a second and opens them when he feel a drop of moisture hit his forehead. He is horrified to see the boy hovering just above him with his red aurora completely stripped away, clothing charred from the explosion, and his face and body bloody. He grips the guitars in both his hands tighter and they begin reconstructing his armor as he holds both his weapons pointed downward at Vegeta and begins charging an orb of red energy.

Back in Aizens prison, Al continues to yell for his release from the cell.

?: "Silence!"

Al is startled by the voice of the girl in the cell next to his. He looks through the bars separating the two cells and can see the young girl with blue hair tied with a yellow ribbon, a black blazer, and red and black skirt sitting on the floor with her back to him.

?: "All of your yelling is disturbing my meditation."

Al: "I'm sorry. I thought I was the only one here.

?: "I said, silence."

Al opens his mouth to speak but decides it's not worth getting yelled at again. He looks to where Aizen had exited and can see a small control panel, he begins searching around the cell and notices some folded clothing and gloves on the bed near the wall and looks down just realizing he was wearing nothing but boxers. He quickly steps over to the bed and begins dressing. Once fully clothed he begins clapping his hands and placing them on the materials in the cell trying to use alchemy to create an escape route.

?: "Your clapping is improving neither your situation nor my concentration. But all the same I'm done."

Al halts his attempts at alchemy having transmuted nothing as the girl stands up. She turns to face the door to her cell and can see that she is wearing a medical eye patch over her left eye. She holds her right hand up in the air and stretches her left arm in the opposite direction. She waves both arms in a semi-circle until they have switched positions and them brings them in to her right side cupping her hands. She looks at the cell door and speaks to it plainly,

?: "Crumble before the might of Rikka, Master of the Wicked Eye."

Al's eyes widen in suspense as he watches her gather strength for the eminent attack. She thrusts both of her palms out towards the cell door hitting it with as much force as she could muster. Al smiles with joy expecting the attack to send the door flying off its hinges, but his look quickly switches to concern as the looks at him with a tear in her eye. She jumps back from the bars shaking her arms and hands crying out in pain after hitting the ridge material.

Al: "Gah! Are you ok?!"

Rikka looks at him still sniffling with tears streaming down her face and holding her arms.

Al: "I thought you had some sort of special power that was going to take that door out. What were you thinking?"

Rikka: "I do have powers. This stuff is just really hard."

She kicks the bars right in front of her and then starts hopping around on one foot.

Rikka: "Ow ow ouchie ow ow."

Al sighs and chuckles at the clumsy girl and puts his palm over his face. He pulls his hand away quickly noticing that his transmutation circles weren't on the gloves. _"That's it!" _Al's eyes widen with excitement. He takes off the gloves and lays them on the bed, then bites his right thumb until it begins to bleed. He uses the blood to draw transmutation circles on the palms of both the gloves. He bites into the tail of the red trench coat he is wearing and rips off a strip. Rikka looks on puzzled by all of the activity going on in Al's cell. Al kneels on the floor and places the strip in front of him. He claps his hands and holds them out just over the strip of cloth. Rikka's eyes widen as she sees a bright blue light coming from the cloth strip just before it is transformed into a little version of Al himself with long claws for hands. Al smiles down at the little replica and they both nod at each other before the little one walks through the bars headed for the exit door. Rikka sits in her cell dumbstruck as she watches the little figure walk over to the wall beneath the control panel. The figure swings his arm stabbing it with his claw and begins climbing up towards the panel. When he reaches the panel he stabs at it with his left claw. The attack shorts out the panel and electrifies the little figure tossing him to the ground.

Rikka: "That was amazing!"

Al smiles at Rikka as the doors to the cells fly open and he runs over to the little figure picking him up off the ground. His hair is all frizzled and most of his clothing is singed. Al moves him over to his coat returning him to his original form and repairing his outfit.

Al: "Well?"

Al looks back at Rikka who was still too awestruck so she hadn't gotten out of her cell.

Al: "You're coming aren't you?"

Rikka: "Me?"

Al: "Yeah. I can't just leave you in a place like this can I?"

A large smile washes over Rikka's face as she grabs a frilly parasol from the bed and happily follows Al through the exit.

At that same time, Kakashi watches Ryuho walk over slowly with a grin as if he is about to enjoy killing Kakashi. Kakashi looks beyond Ryuho to Ichigo's body and wonders if he is dead or if there is still a chance to save him. He looks back to Ryuho and decides that he can't die here without completing his mission. He lifts his right hand in front of his left eye and winces at the pain in his left shoulder caused by the hole. A large beam of purple energy goes flying over head from Vegeta's battle and Ryuho is distracted for just a long enough for Kakashi to take advantage.

Kakashi: "Mangekyou Sharingan."

A black vortex opens up near Ryuho and begins drawing him in. Kakashi uses the chance to retreat a bit but Ryuho has no trouble escaping the pull of the vortex and before Kakashi can see him move Ryuho is standing just in front of him with a sword pointed at his neck.

?: "Severe Leaf Hurricane."

Ryuho dodges the attack and a young man in green lands in his place after completing a flying round house kick.

?: "Kaka-sensei, are you ok?"

Kakashi: "Yeah thanks to you Lee."

Lee: "Lady Tsunade sent me as your back up." He rummages through the bag he is carrying and pulls out an ANBU maks. "Here, she also said you might need this." He hands him the mask and then looks around, "Where is everyone else?"

Kakashi: "We split into teams to complete the mission but my teammate is not doing so well." He points to Ichigo's body.

Lee: "And what about that Vegeta guy?"

Just then they both notice a large black explosion coming from the direction of the castle off in the distance.

Kakashi: "I'm pretty sure that's him."

Lee: "Well let's hurry up and take this guy down and so we can give him a hand."

Lee takes a step towards Ryuho but Kakashi places his right hand on his shoulder.

Kakashi: "No, you go help Vegeta. I'll finish up here."

Lee nods and takes off towards the explosion leaving Kakashi alone to face Ryuho once more.

Ryuho: "He may have been your only chance of leaving this battlefield alive."

Kakashi says nothing as he slowly raises the mask to his face and a black aurora lifts from the ground covering his body and sealing the wound in his shoulder. Ryuho looks at the mask and notices that there is only one eye section and it's only for his Sharingan. Ryuho lifts his right arm and prepares to charge in for an attack.

Kakashi: "That won't be necessary."

Kakashi's Sharingan glows a bright red an instant before he disappears from sight and lands behind Ryuho with his sword drawn. Ryuho is stunned by Kakashi's speed and looks at his own body as he feels his armor shattering. He then notices small black symbols on his arms, legs, and chest. Unknown to him there is one on his forehead as well and when they ignite they use his own energy to explode with a black and green flame leaving him unconscious. As Ryuho's body falls to the ground Kakashi dashes over to Ichigo's body to check on him.

Meanwhile Vash awakes to Yusuke slapping him in the face trying to wake him.

Vash: "Cut it out will ya. I'm awake already."

Yusuke: "You mind telling me what the hell happened? That guy was insanely strong and the last time I checked you were only fighting with that thing."

He points to the pistol laying next to Vash. Vash chuckles and pulls out the black pistol from his coat.

Vash: "Two guns."

Yusuke slaps him again.

Yusuke: "That's not even funny."


	7. The Dead

The Dead

Vegeta looks into the eyes of the young boy as he stands over him poised to attack. He lets his eyes drift to the boy's weapons aimed at him as they continue to charge up energy, then he turns his head left to glance at the castle in the distance. _"I was so close." _He slowly closes his eyes ready to embrace his death.

Lee: "Dynamic Entry!"

Lee comes crashing into the scene kicking the boy in the face knocking away some of the red aurora that was protecting him. Vegeta looks up at him and opens his mouth to scold Lee for interfering in his battle but all he can do for the time is remain barely conscious.

Further away from the castle Kakashi reaches Ichigo's lifeless body as he removes his mask and places it in his back pocket. He looks at Ichigo's eyes which have glazed over, then at the wounds in his back. The first through the back and out the stomach, the second through the back and up out of the chest. He quickly realizes that there is nothing that he can do for him and decides that he should head to Lee and provide support. He uses two fingers to close Ichigo's eyes before taking off towards the castle. Before he can even leave the area he feels a large pressure building from behind him and turns to see the wounds in Ichigo's back arcing with red electricity. Then a white substance begins to pour from the wounds and attack itself to his body. Kakashi steps closer and notices the body convulsing as Ichigo's orange hair begins to grow ever longer.

Back in the middle of nowhere,

Yusuke: "Did Al come back while I was out?" He holds a hand out to help Vash off the gorund.

Vash: "That should be my question." He dusts of his coat and holsters his weapons.

Yusuke: "Guess that answers that. We should get going who knows what they're doing to the kid. You ok to keep fighting?"

Vash: "I'm fine, you?"

Yusuke: "Spirit Wave kicked in and already healed me up."

The two head north once again, a endless expanse of desert lays before them but this time Yusuke makes little effort to complain knowing that they may be Al's only hope. The pair run for a while before Vash grabs hold of Yusuke's shoulder to stop him.

Vash: "Hold up. What are those things?" He points to a few half buried spheres ahead.

Yusuke: "What's what?" Just then Yusuke's phone rings, and he turns away pulling it out to answer.

Botan: "Yusuke, be careful. We just started picking up thousands of energy fluctuations near you. Its like they're sending out beacons waiting for a high spirit energy to cross them. We can't say for sure what will happen if you get near them.

Just then there is a large explosion and Yusuke whirls his head around to see Vash with his pistol drawn.

Vash: "Well now we know what happens." He adds another round to his pistol and holsters it.

Yusuke: "Are you insane!? You could have blown them all up." Yusuke yells as he closes he phone and puts it away.

Vash: "Calm down will ya, look they're spread pretty far apart and we can see most of them. We just need to watch where we step and we should be fine. Not to mention this proves that we are on the right path."

They continue on their way easily dodging the large mines scattered about still unable to see anything that would look like a fortress, hideout, or anything man made. As they run ahead of them they see a red light flash before man is teleported in their path landing on one knee. They stop to assess if the new arrival is a friend or foe. He is wearing a red leather outfit with black patches and a full mask over his face, carrying two swords, an assault rifle, sub-machine gun, grenades, and other gear. As he stands he speaks to them with a mocking Austrian accent.

?: "Come with me if you want to live."

Vash and Yusuke look at each other before looking back at the mysterious man.

?: "Nah, I'm just kidding," He laughs placing his hands on his hips, and then says in a deadly serious voice, "I'm going to kill both of you."

Vash and Yusuke waste no time in attacking. Yusuke throws up his index finger and thumb, while Vash pulls out his pistol.

Yusuke: "Spirit Gun!"

Yusuke and Vash both fire. The spirit gun hits the man in the chest leave a large hole and the shot from Vash's gun hits him in the center of his forehead. The man falls back landing in the sand with a hefty thud. Vash and Yusuke look at each other puzzled.

Yusuke: "I thought they would be getting stronger."

After a brief moment they decided to take off again hoping avoid more distractions. Just as they pass the fallen body two large white hands burst from the sand reaching up and grabbing each of their legs. As they struggle to get free they hear a voice from behind them.

?: "I totally had you guys going there didn't I?"

The sand beneath their feet begins to rumble before Vash and Yusuke are tossed back the way they had just came and a large hulking pale man erupts from the sand. The pale man towers above the man in red wearing a tattered dark grey suit with large grotesque green veins popping from his muscles. The man in red walks over to the pale man as the wounds in his head and chest heal themselves. Vash helps Yusuke back to his feet before turning to the two men opposing them.

Vash: "Who the hell are you guys and what do you want?"

?: "Well my friends all call me, 'That narcissistic murdering bastard' but you can just call me Deadpool. And this big lug," He jumps up on the pale man's shoulders, "his name's Grundy, but if you're anything like me you come to know him as Mr. Fluffy-kins." He pats Grundy and hugs his head. "And like I said before we're here to kill you. Now be good kiddies and let Uncie Deadpool put to sleep."

Deadpool leaps from Grundy's shoulders drawing his swords and swiping at Vash. Vash leaps back dodging the initial attack and drawing Deadpool towards him. Yusuke watches Deadpool furiously chase Vash and thinks to himself, _"Yeah go ahead and leave me with the big one." _Before he can turn back to face the giant he notices an attack from above as Grundy brings both his fists down trying to crush Yusuke. Yusuke rolls to the left dodging the attack then jumps to his face to deliver a punch that had little effect other than Grundy grunting in anger before swatting Yusuke back to the ground.

Deadpool: "Would you hold still already? I promise I'll only kill you a little bit."

Vash stops in his tracks and Deadpool brings his blades down for an attack yell Geronimo. Vash lifts his left arm and blocks the attack. Both blades stop making a metallic clanking sound as the hit his arm. Vash swings his arm forcing Deadpool back.

Deadpool: "Clank?" Looking at his swords, "what do you mean clank?"

Vash grabs at the torn cloth on his left arm and pulls it away revealing an arm made of black metal.

Deadpool: "Oooooh, I get it. Someone already took that one, welp lets see if we can make 'em a matching set." He goes in swing again.

Grundy reaches down and scoops Yusuke up off the ground and starts squeezing him in both as Yusuke screams from the unbearable pain. Yusuke can hear a pop in his left shoulder as its dislocated. He uses this to slide his arm free and swings it up yelling,

Yusuke: "Spirit Gun"

He fires a shot hitting Grundy in the eye causing him to throw Yusuke and use his hands to protect his face. Yusuke uses this time to fix his shoulder then starts punching Grundy and releasing 'Shot Guns.'

Vash dodges a few more slashes from Deadpool's swords before stopping again. This time Deadpool slashes horizontally and Vash ducks the attack then jumps up giving Deadpool a knee to the chin. Deadpool is lifted off his feet by the attack and Vash grabs his leg swinging him around and throwing him. Deadpool lands in the sand and sits up noticing Vash has his pistol pointed at him but not directly. He looks to his left and sees one of the many mines in the area.

Deadpool: "Aw poopie."

Vash smirkes as he fires a shot at the mine blowing it up before Deadpool can even move. The explosion catches Yusuke's attention for a second and he is punched by Grundy sending him sliding to Vash's feet.

Vash: "Having a tough time?"

Yusuke: "Like hell."

Yusuke stands up and starts running back towards Grundy. Before he reaches him he punches the ground making a large cloud of sand rise up. He then leaps up kneeing Grundy in the face and causing him to fall on to his back. Yusuke stands on his chest then aims down with his index and thumb firing a Spirit Gun into his chest. The Blast leave a large open cavity where Grundy's chest had once been, with is heart and other organs exposed. Yusuke climbs down as Vash adds another round to his pistol and they both prepare to continue their journey.

Deadpool: "No fair no fair no fair. You can't use our own traps against us."

Vash and Yusuke turn to see Deadpool standing brushing off flames from his tattered outfit as the wounds to his left side begin to heal. He removes the burned mask from his face and throws it aside. Vash and Yusuke both get a look at the mangled skin on his face and both wonder if it was a result of the explosion, and if so why hadn't it healed.

Deadpool: "I'm so gonna tell mom on you guys."

Yusuke: "Do you ever shut up?"

Deadpool: "I did this one time, and then my tongue grew ba-"

His words are stopped by Vash unloading all six rounds of his pistol directly into his mouth. Vash reloads his weapon as Yusuke looks at him in shock.

Vash: "What? You can't tell me you didn't want to."

Deadpool stands back up with shaking his head as his lower jaw and tongue both slowly regenerate. Once his wounds are fully healed he looks at them and hunches his shoulders and places a hand on his head.

Deadpool: "Man I thought I was crazy. When are you guys gonna learn, you can't kill a dead man?"

He draws his swords as behind Vash and Yusuke Grundy rises back to his feet. Grundy roars and bats Vash aside then slams an open hand down on to Yusuke. Vash tumbles across the sand then comes to a rest laying on his back. He looks up and sees Deadpool coming down with both swords. He blocks the swords with his left arm and Deadpool brings his face in close to Vash's. Vash can see that Deadpool's eyes are not black and yellow but normal, and then he grimaces at the smell of the skin on Deadpool's face.

Deadpool: "Nice right? Ya know I was gonna call myself 'The Hamburglar' but can you believe it was already taken?"

Vash lifts his legs throwing Deadpool off then jumps to his feet and unloads six rounds into Deadpool's chest. Deadpool doubles over and giggles.

Deadpool: "That tickles."

Yusuke lifts Grundy's hand and toss the monster on to his back.

Yusuke: "Just stay dead! Machine Gun!"

He starts throwing a flurry of punches, each one releasing the force of a Spirit Gun. Yusuke stops his attack and looks down at Grundy and can see that the skin on his face has began to peel away leaving patches of black and green muscle exposed. Grundy rolls off of his back swinging his fist and punching Yusuke in his left arm. Yusuke hears another pop but this time two of the bones in his are snapped, and he yells in agony as he slides across the sand.

Deadpool: "Ahh I love the sound of broken bones in the morning."

Vash begins to reload but Deadpool puts away one of his swords and draws a pistol and shoots Vash's weapon away.

Deadpool: "I think me and our viewers at home have had just about enough of that."

Vash reaches behind his coat and pulls out a long cartridge and his metal left arm snaps in half and reconfigures itself into a sub-machine gun. He pushes the cartridge into the new weapon and begins firing at Deadpool. Each shot fired burns with a green flame after three hit Deadpool and he doesn't begin to heal right away he decides to dodge the new ammunition. Grundy rises from the ground and lumbers over to Yusuke still writhing in pain. Yusuke manages to look up just in time to see Grundy's large foot drop onto his broken arm. Grundy lets out a half grunt half chuckle before he begins pummeling Yusuke's body. Deadpool runs in circles around Vash dodging the shots then runs behind Grundy letting him absorb a few of the shots as he stands on Yusuke's body. Deadpool looks down at Yusuke smiling,

Deadpool: "'Scuse me, this won't take but a moment."

Grundy feels the shots as they burn through his suit jacket and continue to burn into his flesh and turns around to face Vash. Vash stops firing for a moment as his eyes widen for a second after looking just past Grundy whom had just begun walking towards him with Deadpool following close behind.

Deadpool: "What's the matter? Scared of a little friendly fire?" Deadpool taunts from behind cover.

Vash rushes over to the pair and jumps kicking Grundy in the face as Yusuke his Deadpool and Grundy in the legs with a Spirit Gun. Grundy falls backwards and Deadpool doesn't enough time to get clear as Grundy falls atop him. Deadpool looks to Vash who continues over to Yusuke and begins to drag him away. Yusuke smiles as he drops a hand full of metal pins and Deadpool realizes they are from the grenades he had strapped on to his gear. The sound of the explosion is muffled by the sand and Grundy and Deadpool's bodies being blown apart. Vash and Yusuke watch the explosion from a safe distance and are surprised to hear a voice from above as the body parts begin to fall.

Deadpool: "Ooooooooooooooooooo!" Deadpool's head lands a few feet away from the pair. "Wow! What a rush. Can we do it again?"

Back towards the castle Ichigo has finished his transformation and stands before Kakashi. His entire upper body is in cased in a substance that is similar to his hollow mask and his fingers extend to long claws. His hair extends down his back and he also has a white tail with a red tip on the end. Kakashi slowly begins to back away as he sheaths his sword. The sword makes a small clanking noise as the hand guard hits the scabbard and Ichigo's look to it sharply. He lets out a snarling roar as he whips his tail around Kakashi's neck and lifts him up. Kakashi grasps at the tail coiled around his neck as his feet helplessly dangle below. Ichigo opens his mouth and lets out a roar as he begins to charge a large cero right next to Kakashi's face.

(Author's Note: Any Marvel fans that read this, I am so sorry if my Deadpool wasn't "Deadpool" enough.)


	8. The Miracle

The Miracle

Kakashi struggles to get free as the Cero continues to charge in front of him. He manages to reach his sword and draws it and attacks intending to cut off Ichigo's tail which is still wrapped around his neck. He swings and the sword just makes a dull clank against the hard white substance. Ichigo roars again and Kakashi uses his feet stepping into the hole in Ichigo's chest to create a bit of distance between him and Ichigo. As the Cero is fired Kakashi pulls himself and the tail to the side causing the tail to be blown off instead of his head. He lands on the ground and Ichigo swipes at him with his claws, but Kakashi back flips out of range and sheaths his sword. Kakashi weaves a few hand signs then places his hand on the sand.

Kakashi: "Water Style: Water Prison Jutsu."

A small wave of water quickly travels across the sand and engulfs Ichigo. The tactic proves completely useless as Ichigo makes one roar shattering the water prison. Kakashi is stunned for a second before furrowing his brow again in determination. He weaves some more hand signs and when done there is a small blue flame burning on the tips of each of his fingers and thumb. Ichigo roars and Kakashi dashes over and slams his fingers and thumb onto Ichigo's chest around the hole. He shifts his fingers and thumb slightly clockwise as he brings his other hand up in front of his face with his index and middle finger extended and yells,

Kakashi: "Five Pronged Seal!"

Kakashi's fingers burn brighter for a moment before going out. He looks at Ichigo's face and sees that nothing happened and Ichigo slashes his chest sending him dashing back again. Kakashi thinks to himself, _"Seems I can't contain this 'thing' so I'll have to attack to put it down." _Kakashi draws his sword and covers it in electricity calling out "Raiki." He charges over to Ichigo and attacks with a horizontal slash across his chest, but the attack just scrapes the white armor and Ichigo grabs hold of the blade with his right hand. Ichigo lifts his left hand and a black and red energy begins to build up on his claws. As he swings down his claws leave behind a streak of red energy creating a laceration in the air. As the attack connects with Kakashi and begins tearing him in half, his entire body turns a light blue and explodes into electricity. With his lightning clone destroyed and Ichigo momentarily stunned from the attack Kakashi attacks from behind.

Kakashi: "Phoenix Flower Jutsu."

The fireballs hit Ichigo as well as the area around him each causing a large explosion. As smoke billows about Kakashi takes a bit of time to catch his breath after using so much chakara so quickly. Ichigo come roaring from the smoke plume, unscathed, cutting a black and red laceration through the air with his right hand as he attacks Kakashi. Kakashi manages to draw his sword to block the attack but just as the blow from Ichigo's right hand glances off Kakashi's blade he attacks with his left and three marks across Kakashi's face. Ichigo swings his right hand upwards leaving a gash on Kakashi's chest and sending him flying through the air. As Kakashi stumbles back to his feet he realizes that if he holds back any longer he would die by Ichigo's hand. He reaches into his back pocket and retrieves his ANBU mask. Kakashi puts it on and the mask covers his now damaged right eye leaving only his Sharingan visible. A black aurora lifts from the ground and wraps itself around Kakashi just before his Sharingan shines a bright red and he disappears landing behind Ichigo with his sword drawn. Small black circles with lightning blots through them appear on Ichigo's arms, legs, chest, and head. Kakashi turns to face Ichigo and watches as the symbols emit a puff of green smoke and then crumble away into green sparkles. The attack that had taken out their previous opponent in one stroke did nothing against Ichigo's armor. In fact, Kakashi realized, none of his attacks had done anything except make more feral and angry, Just as Kakashi finished formulating a plan, Ichigo rushes in with his claws ripping lacerations through the air. Kakashi leaps into the air dodging the attacks that formed an X as they missed their target. Ichigo looks up at Kakashi roaring and charges a Cero. Kakashi reaches the peak of his jump and draws his sword as he begins his decent. He lifts the sword above his head and covers the blade in a jagged burst of black and red chakara as he falls. Ichigo is still charging his Cero as Kakashi reaches him and yells out,

Kakashi: "GETSUGA TENSHO!"

Ichigo releases his Cero into the air as Kakashi brings the black jagged blade down diagonally across his chest cutting deep into the armor. The attack leaves Ichigo's bare chest exposed and a black aurora seeping from break in the armor. Kakashi looks on as Ichigo begins screaming and uses both of his hands to reach into the crack and grab hold of the armor and begin pulling it apart. The black aurora becomes more fierce as the cracks slowly start to repair themselves. Seeing this Kakashi rushes over to Ichigo and grabs hold of the armor and helps him pull it apart. The two manage to stress the armor enough to split it to erupt with a black explosion. The explosion knocks Kakashi away and leaves Ichigo unconscious after being turned back to normal.

Back in the dead forest clearing a circle containing numbers letters and random symbols appears on the ground and begins to swirl drawing in a column of light from above. In a flash three girls appear on the ground. The first a girl with pink hair wearing a red blouse, black leather shorts, a pink sash, and black gloves. The second has long black hair twisted into two thick braids that wrap around and connect in front of her, she wears a black outfit similar to Ichigo's but adds to it a white haori with the character for "4" on the back. The third, a short girl with short purple hair wearing a high school uniform with a green skirt and a dark grey cardigan.

?: "I can't believe this is the closet you could get us to the others."

?: "My apologies, something is interfering with my ability to calculate dimensional particle shifts."

?: "Please girls, We don't have time for this, we have to make our way to the others quickly."

?: "You're right, let's get going."

The three head for the cave that had been used by the others and begin their journey to catch up and support them.

Back towards the castle Lee watches the young man he had kicked tumble across the sand for a moment before turning his attention back to Vegeta who was laying all but dead on the ground. He kneels next to Vegeta and begins checking his pockets. He finds a small brown bag tied off with a piece of string.

Lee: "Just like she said."

Lee reaches into the bag and takes out one of the small green beans contained within and places it into Vegeta's mouth. As he swallows the bean Vegeta feels a small rush of energy.

Lee: "Don't move, I'll take care of the other guy."

Vegeta scoffs at being told what to do by a "child," but it's not as if he could move even if he wanted to having torn apart most of the muscles in his body. Lee removes the back he had been carrying and places it next to Vegeta then rises back to his feet. Lee runs over to where he believed the boy may have landed. By this time the boy has already picked himself up, repaired his armor, and is hovering just above. Lee looks up at the boy as he crouches down and begins removing the weights he wears just beneath his leg warmers and unravels a bit of the cloth he keeps wrapped around his fists.

Lee: "My name is Rock Lee of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. I've been told that you are Naota Nandaba of the Atomsk Trigger, it will be my honor to fight a genius such as you and pit one of the Leaf Village's Ultimate Techniques against yours."

Lee rises back to his feet and the sand around him begins to slowly lift and swirl around. He clenches his fists as he begins to build up and force out his energy.

Lee: "Initial Gate Open." A burst of energy is let out as Lee continues to charge. "Second Gate, Gate of Health Open. Third Gate, Gate of Life Open." The energy around him begins to take the form of blue chakara pushing upwards. "Fourth Gate, Gate of Harm Open." The hair on his head begins to rise and stand up straight. "Fifth Gate, Gate of Limits Open." The chakara begins pouring out of him as if it is limitless and his skin gains a red hue and the veins in his face and hands begin to pulsate. "Sixth Gate, Gate of Joy Open." His eyes turn pale and white as the chakara around begins to take on an orange color. His body trembles under the pressure of his own power as he continues to try and pull out more power. "Se-seventh Gate, G-g-gate of WONDER OPEN!" The chakara pouring out of him turns golden and wraps itself around his becoming an armor similar to the Atomsk shield Naota had been using.

The small sand storm that had been growing around Lee since he had begun powering up dies as Lee stands clad in his golden armor. Lee lifts his right hand to his face having never hand an opportunity to see this transformation first hand since he learned of it from Guy-sensei. As he moves his hand from left to right it looks almost as if he has two right hands since he moves it so fast. Naota flies in and attacks, hitting the ground and releasing a shockwave of energy with so much pressure that it forces a large amount of the sand into a solid slab. Lee easily dodges the lightning fast attack, his speed being beyond anything he had ever imagined. Lee begins running circles around Naota lifting sand and boulders as he does. Naota bursts off into the air and Lee follows leaping from boulder to boulder that was still caught in the whirlwind he had created. Naota stretches out both his arms while in the center of the cyclone and charges a bolt of energy on the ends of both his guitar like weapons. He begins spinning and firing shots in all directions trying to hit Lee as he jumps from perch to perch. From a distance Vegeta can see the battle that looks like a tornado shooting off billions of lasers in different directions. Lee crosses the center and delivers a punch to Naota. Before Naota can feel the impact from Lee's first attack another comes from the opposite direction. Lee crisscrosses the cyclone hundreds of times in the blink of an eye and each separate attack lands at almost the exact instant the previous one did. Each attack chips away at Naota's Atomsk armor until Lee attacked with a flurry of kicks from below forcing Naota higher. Before the last kick is even completed a "second Lee" wraps his arms and length of cloth around Naota and begins spinning down towards the ground. As they spin falling from the insane heights they had gotten up to Lee calls out,

Lee: "Hidden Art, Miracle Lotus!"

The two slam into the compacted sand and send out a shockwave that that can be felt by everyone in Heuco Mundo and blows away the tornado that had formed around them. Shattered pieces of their red and yellow armor go flying everywhere and look like a shower of orange sparkles in the distance.

Exiting the cave the three girls that had come to support the others can see the shower of orange sparkles from Lee's fight. They make a quick plan for one of them to head north while the other two move towards the castle west and they split up.

Meanwhile in Aizen's prison Al and Rikka continue to search for the other captives and a way out. They exit from a corridor on to a cat walk above what looks like a gym.

?: "Hadouken."

As the two continue to make their way across the catwalk can see a large crowd surround two fighters as they vie for victory in their battle. The first man with brown hair wearing a white martial arts gi fires a shot of blue energy at the second man in a yellow and black outfit with a face protector and mask covering his face. He blocks the blue shot then throws out his right arm at the first man,

?: "Get over here!"

A spike attached to a metal length of chain comes flying from his hand. The man in white side steps the attack and the spike buries itself in the chest of one of the on lookers. The man in yanks the chain back pulling with it the random bystander and tossing him aside. Al's attention is pulled from the fight when he and Rikka hear a grinding sound followed by electrical buzzing coming from a room on the other side of the catwalk. They rush over to see what caused the sound and notice a door closing as what looks like a heat shimmer walks through it. They move over to the door and can see that the control panel has been sliced through with a sword. Al pries the door open with the help of Rikka and they slip in.

Rikka: "What is this place?"

Al: "I'm just as lost as you are."

They enter a room with hundreds if not thousands of tubes filled with glowing green liquid and bodies wearing masks with tubes and plugs jammed into their skin. They scan the area and notice even more tubes hanging from the ceiling. Al is appalled by the sight and he and Rikka rush over to the tubes and begin checking them. Al looks closely at one of the bodies and notices that there is a stylized "M" scrawled on his forehead and black lines running down from his eyes. Rikka taps at the glass and one of the things inside opens its eyes. The eyes are black and yellow but with two tomoes on the pupils as if they were Hallow eyes mixed with a Sharingan. Just as Rikka gets up onto her tip toes to get a better look at the eyes, a shot is fired that shatters the tube's casing causing the green liquid to slosh across the floor before being drained away by a grate leaving the body laying lifeless of the floor. Al and Rikka stare at the white lifeless husk on the floor in horror.

?: "Didn't your moms ever tell you it's not nice to touch other people's things?"

Rikka turns to face the voice of the silver haired man wearing a red leather trench coat and black pants with a large sword attach to his back and she pulls out the parasol attached to the small of her back taking up a fighting stance, but Al is still stuck on the body laying before him. The man spins one of his two pistols around on his finger as he mocks Al.

?: "It's a corpse, do act like you've never seen one. Then again I take that back, that thing wasn't really 'alive' to begin with."

Rikka: "Why would you do something so evil?"

?: "I don't think it's really going to matter much to a little dead girl."

A shrill old voice comes blaring over an intercom.

?: "Dante! Quit playing around and kill them, we still have things to prepare before the invasion."

Dante, the man in red looks at the intercom for a second and then back at Rikka spinning one of his pistols then aiming it at her.

Dante: "Sorry kiddies, break time's over. Time to go to work."

Rikka charges in with her parasol drawn but Dante fires one shot and hits her in the center of the head. Al's body jerks at the shot and he turns just in time to see Rikka's body falling backwards and landing with a light thud. Al rushes over to Rikka's fallen body and fear, sadness, remorse, and anger all wash across Al's face before he looks at Dante.

Al: "You murderer!"

Dante fans his coat tails back and points both of his weapons at Al.

Dante: "Aw yeah, this is gonna be one hell of a party."


End file.
